TransAsia Airways Flight Crashes in Taipei River

TransAsia Airways flight GE235 has crashed into the Keelung River in Taipei, according to the Associated Press. Dramatic dashcam video of the crash, which has since gone viral, shows the ATR 72 Propjet veering sharply onto its side and catching its wing on a highway before crashing.

The flight originated at 11:53 a.m. at Sunghshan Airport in downtown Taipei. Bound for the Kinmen Islands, the plane began issuing mayday signals to the control tower shortly after takeoff and crashed within four minutes.

Speaking at a news conference, TransAsia director Peter Chen touched on one of the most bewildering aspects of this crash, namely how new the ATR 72 Propjet is. “Actually this aircraft in the accident was the newest model. It hadn’t been used for even a year,” he said.

Stranger still, this is the second such plane to crash in a year. The other was also operated by TransAsia. It crashed in July, killing 48.

Rescue efforts were still underway as of this writing, with Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration confirming 23 dead, 15 rescued with injuries and 20 still missing.

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